The Price of Paranoia
by In Darkness Is Light
Summary: After two weeks of being home alone, paranoia takes over Jyou. [Rated T for Character Death]


Disclaimer: I do not own anything but this story!

It had been two weeks since Jyou had been home alone, and he was beginning to greatly dislike the experience.

At first it had been all fun and games. He was able to study and work in peace, he could eat whatever and whenever he wanted, he could hog the computer and TV all day, and no one would scold him. Oh yes, being home alone was the best. But then it had started.

Just a little at first, he heard small noises throughout the house. Most of the time they were banging noises, either coming from outside or from his neighbor's home. He hadn't paid them much attention and eventually they would cease and all would be quiet again and Jyou could relax and continue whatever it was he was doing. Then a few strange things happened.

Going down into the basement of his semi-detached home that he shared with his best friend Koushirou, he'd find the lights on in the laundry room, or he'd close doors and then they'd open again. Being a bit of a fraidy cat, Jyou had always rushed back upstairs every time this happened. Of course, there was always a logical answer. The house was fairly old, so none of the doors really shut properly, and he was quite sure that there were a least a few mice down in the laundry room, so it wasn't anything scary. After being scared, he'd always find comfort in these logical explanations, and settle down.

That method had worked for about a week and a half, before the crime shows and movies, paired with the strange sounds the old house emitted, started to make Jyou a little paranoid.

Every time he heard a noise now, he would turn to its origin, only to find nothing there. Sometimes, when he was upstairs working on the computer in his room, he could have sworn he heard little shuffles of movement from Koushirou's room, and every time he was downstairs, he could have sworn that someone was in the basement. It was definitely becoming creepier being at home alone, and he now desperately wished that his housemate would come home soon.

The cautiousness he displayed was slowly turning into paranoia. Now, he made sure to have at least one sharp object handy with him at all times, in all rooms, so that if the person Jyou was sure was hiding in the basement decided to come up and try to kill him one day, he'd have something to fight him off with.

He walked downstairs to the living room, which was attached to the kitchen in an open spaced concept design, and decided to see what sharp things he'd find there. Of course, the big kitchen knives were the perfect weapons there. Picking one up and fingering it gently, he looked behind him at the basement door.

There was probably something sharp down there, but he didn't have the courage to go check. Instead, he put the knife back in its place, and headed upstairs to see what makeshift weapons were in the other rooms.

In the bathroom, it was both of their razors. In the guest bedroom, it was a broken vase that they'd never thrown out. For Jyou's bedroom, the weapons of choice would have been the keys and a long, sharp pair of scissors. And finally, in Koushirou's bedroom, it had also been a pair of scissors. Pleased to see he was well equipped, he went back down to watch one of his favorite shows, Law & Order.

Most of the final week was calm, then the noises started up again, and Jyou, more paranoid than ever, had started carrying the kitchen knife with him wherever he went. When he watched TV and ate, there it was, on the couch beside him. When he was working, he placed it on his desk, right beside his left hand. By this time, his state of paranoia had bypassed any form of fear he'd had before.

It wasn't until the last night, that his paranoia manifested itself in a terrible way. It was Sunday night, and Jyou was watching a movie. He had just finished cooking a "Welcome Home" dinner for Koushirou and now he was just relaxing, awaiting his best friend's arrival. Koushirou was supposed to come home at midnight, but Jyou had fallen asleep on the couch at around 11. As always, the kitchen knife was nearby, sitting obediently on the nightstand next to the couch.

At 12:30, Koushirou arrived at the house, opening the door with his keys. He walked in to the kitchen and saw the food that Jyou had made for him, as well as the sleeping figure of Jyou on the couch. Tiptoeing across the hardwood floors, he made his way over to the boy, unaware of Jyou's recently acquired paranoia.

Meanwhile, with Jyou; he had been sleeping peacefully, that was, until he heard footsteps. They were very light at first, but then grew stronger and closer. Alarms going off in his mind, Jyou figured that this was probably the man hiding in the basement. He'd come out tonight and would try to kill Jyou. Awake and alert, Jyou still pretended to be asleep in case the man just wanted to rob him of something and then would leave. No need to threaten my life if it's not needed, he thought.

Seeing his friend out like a light on the rather uncomfortable couch, Koushirou put a hand on Jyou's left shoulder and shook him lightly. Bad idea. In a flash, Jyou had jumped off the couch, taken the knife off the night stand, and had begun repeatedly stabbing what he thought was his assailant, but was, in fact, his best friend Koushirou.

Screams were heard in the house. Jyou was repeatedly yelling at the man he was stabbing, making sure that every cut was deep and left a mark, and Koushirou, was screaming for Jyou to stop and that he was his friend.

"You're not my friend!"

"Yes I am! It's me, Koushirou!"

"Lies!" Jyou yelled enraged, plunging the knife deep into the man's stomach, for the final, fatal blow.

It was only after Jyou turned the lights off that his look of triumph turned to one of horror. Indeed, before his eyes, he saw a bloody and lifeless Koushirou, full of stab wounds. Terrified, he pulled the body of his best friend to the edge of the stairs, slightly obstructing his view of him. In the process, his shirt had gotten a lot of blood on it. After leaving his best friend's body at the stairs, he grabbed a cloth and started wiping the blood off the hardwood floors. After, he cleaned Koushirou's cuts carefully, as if it would have made a difference. Only dark, deep gashes could be seen on the boy's body and face now, and after sighing deeply, tears threatening to fall, Jyou made his way to the couch.

He sat down; legs crossed, and began to cry. "What have I done?" he cried out to no one. The silence of the room left his ears ringing, and his mind twisted in confusion, trying to grasp what had just happened.

Finally, after many house, he fell into a fitful sleep.

He woke up, panting heavily. Good, he thought, it had all been a dream. Then looking down he wondered, why his shirt was soaked in blood. He eyed the rest of the room cautiously and fainted when he saw Koushirou's lifeless body at the edge of the stairs.


End file.
